Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has welcomed a decision by Barnet Council to bring back brown bin collections.

A spokesperson for the mayor confirmed that the local authority will only carry out a temporary suspension of separate food waste collections following discussions with the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The council has agreed to abide by the terms of the London Environment Strategy (LES), which means brown bin collections would have to be brought back by 2020.

A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: “The mayor opposed Barnet Council’s original decision to terminate its food waste service.

“His LES is very clear that all boroughs should offer separate food waste collections by 2020 and it is right that Barnet Council, after discussions with the GLA, has now agreed that there will only be a temporary suspension to the food waste collection service and that it will reinstate the service in line with this requirement.”

Barnet Council announced plans to scrap separate food waste collections at a meeting of the environment committee in May, claiming it would save £300,000 a year.

But the mayor later warned he could force the council to overturn the decision as it was in breach of the LES.

In September, councillors announced a suspension of brown bin collections while changes were made to ‘outdated’ collection routes – but did not provide a timescale for their reintroduction.

This month, the council advised residents to keep hold of their brown bins until separate food waste collections resumed.

A spokesperson for Barnet Council said: “We will look to reintroduce the separate food waste collection service to a timescale which meets the requirements of the London Environment Strategy.”